There is an increasing concern that social housing may have negative rather than positive effects on the rates of employment among residents. While this can be explained in part by selection effects due to increased targeting of social housing in many countries, it appears that other factors are also important. These include the effects of social housing rent setting, admissions and allocations criteria, the ambiguous effects of secure tenancy, and aspects of neighbourhood and place. There also appear to be a range of social and cultural factors, which underlie consideration of paid work which differ by gender and household composition.